The Blood of the Sea
by CalicoCat1
Summary: Pirate blood. Blood of the sea. It runs through many a vein, whether they be pirate...or the child of a pirate.
1. Prologue

Title: The Blood of the Sea  
  
Author: Calico Cat  
  
Rating: PG-13 (just in case for later chapters)  
  
Disclaimer: Disney owns everyone, everything, etc… that was seen in the movie. Anne and Catherine (in this story) are mine.   
  
   
  
The Blood of the Sea  
  
Prologue  
  
A cool breeze blew across his face. With it was carried the sweet smell of the ocean. Although it was rather faint, it was there nonetheless. The man closed his eyes, taking in that scent. Nothing in the world could compare to it. The breeze blew a little harder, as if encouraged by his actions. A soft yawn made him open his eyes. He looked down at the small bundle in his arms. Brown eyes met blue. He smiled gently as the child managed to free one hand from the confines of the blanket and grab a tiny fistful of his shirt.   
  
"Good evening luv. You won't be sleeping the night through now, I take it." The child just stared at him with her wide blue eyes. The breeze ruffled his shoulder length hair, catching his attention once again. He looked past the town settling down to sleep, and towards the ocean in the distance. The man sighed, looking down at his child once again, before positioning her so she could also see. The child's attention was taken to the moon, which was full on this night. It made the ocean sparkle with it's light.   
  
"See that luv." The sound of her father's voice made the child look back at him. He remained staring longingly at the sparkling, black void. "I'll take you to see her when you're older. It's in your blood, as it is in mine." Another yawn caught his attention as the child's eyes began to droop. He smiled, lowering his voice to a gentle croon as he gently rocked her. "It'll be freedom then, luv...we'll be two of the most feared-"  
  
"Jack?" The man spun around as his wife, Anne, walked out onto the porch. "Is she asleep?"  
  
"Aye." He replied. Making sure he had a firm grip on his daughter with one arm, he wrapped the other around Anne.   
  
She leaned against him, contentment with the present situation filling her with peace. "What were you telling her about tonight?" Then she realized he had stopped rocking. Looking up, she found him gazing out into the dark. Following his gaze led her straight to the ocean. The peace was shattered.   
  
"Jack you promised." Anne said, pulling away from him.  
  
"Anne, I was only talkin' about the ocean." He replied defensively.   
  
"Yes, but Jack, every time you start talking about the ocean, it eventually leads to pirates."  
  
"She's only two months old! Even if I did mention pirates, she'd neither understand nor remember."   
  
"If you cannot keep yourself from speaking about pirates now, how will you be able to keep from telling her when she can understand?" Anne looked at him angrily. "I thought we had discussed this before Catherine was born."  
  
"It's in her blood Anne." 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 18 years later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Anne stood up anxiously as the door to the sitting room swung open. Her face was beaming as she gazed upon her future son-in-law. What a fine match for her daughter. To think a man of his status placed his attention on her daughter out of all the eligible women in the town. Certainly, he wasn't of as high a class as that of the governor, but being one of the few physicians gave him higher standings then that of a seamstress.   
  
"Mr. Ackworth-"  
  
"I apologize Madame, but I must take my leave." The man said, quickly placing his tricorn on his wig covered head, and grabbing his cane.   
  
The smile fell immediately from her face. "Mr. Ackworth, please do not leave in such a state."  
  
"I am afraid I must." He said, striding quickly to the door. Just as he was about to pull it open, he paused. "Your daughter turned rejected my proposal. I shall not trouble either of you again."  
  
"There must be some mistake. Let me go talk with her. We'll straighten this all out." Anne pleaded.   
  
"There was no mistaking her response." He replied, before quickly exiting the house. Anne helplessly watched as the doctor briskly walked down the street. She closed the door gently, then spun around.  
  
"Catherine!!!"  
  
Anne burst through the sitting room door, through the kitchen, up the stairs, and into the small bedroom on the left. It was empty. The curtains were blown wildly around by the wind coming through the open window, accompanied by the few leaves which happened to be blown in from the tree right outside. She marched over and stuck her head out, staring up through the branches.   
  
"Catherine, come down her this instant!"  
  
Catherine Byrde glanced down towards the sound of her mother's voice.   
  
"Cat, mother. It's Cat." She said in exasperation. Cat made a move to get up, but hesitated. She would rather stay straddling the roof of their tiny house, then face the inevitable row with her mother.   
  
"Catherine, I know you're up there."  
  
The sharp tone made her wince. She was certainly going to get the loudest lecture of her life today. With a sigh, she began to make her way down.   
  
Anne stood in the center of the room, arms crossed as she watched first one leg, then the other appear through the window. The rest of her daughter quickly followed. She felt like groaning aloud at the sight of the girl. Her blonde hair was a mess, frizzed from the wind and barely being kept back with the piece of cloth that kept her hair tied back. Her face was tan from the many hours she sat on the roof. While her clothes were surprisingly not covered in grime, she had stuffed her skirts up into her waistband, revealing her legs and chemise. It was hardly the look for a respectable woman.   
  
Catherine stood there a moment, then suddenly glanced down. She quickly let her skirts loose and attempted to smooth her hair. She meekly looked back up with an unsure half smile, her eyes wide and innocent, almost with a puppy like quality. Her father had used that same look so many times…. Anne frowned at the unwanted memory. Catherine was too much like him at times.   
  
"Mother." Cat began.   
  
Anne cut her off before she could continue. "Do not mother me, Catherine. Why did you turn down Mr. Ackworth?"  
  
Cat's look changed from one of innocence to one of stubbornness. "Mother, I could not possibly become his wife!"  
  
"And why not?" Anne demanded. "It was a good match. Catherine, this is the second time you've turned down a suitor. You are almost nineteen years of age. It is about time you were married."  
  
"Mother-"  
  
"Catherine, do not contradict me. With no dowry to speak of, there is little chance another man of good society with make you an offer of marriage again."  
  
"I'd rather be an old maid then marry that horrid Mr. Ackworth."  
  
"Catherine Byrde!" Anne exclaimed. "Mr. Ackworth is a well respected physician and an upstanding gentleman."  
  
"He is also almost as old as dirt and twice as dull." Cat muttered.  
  
*****  
  
Thanks for the feedback!!! 


	3. Chapter 2

Catherine stormed up one of the hills that surrounded the town, a straw hat her mother had demanded she bring carried uselessly in her hand. It was the tallest and most remote. The townspeople rarely ventured up to the top.   
  
The townspeople….   
  
The straw hat was crushed in her hands at the very thought. She knew what they thought of her. The young women who might have been her friends often gossiped about her while her back was turned. After all, she was the daughter of a poor seamstress who's husband had abandoned her while Cat was only a few months old.   
  
Cat's eyes narrowed as she recalled several cynical conversations she happened to overhear. The straw hat was barely recognizable now. Her mother was no whore.   
  
The sun was just beginning to disappear below the horizon as she reached the top. Cat walked briskly towards it, as if trying to catch it.   
  
"Take me with you." She whispered longingly, then instantly regretted it. She's was too old to spout out such foolish requests. Or so her mother would say.   
  
With a sigh, she fell to her knees, eyes fixated on the brilliant sunset before her. How she longed to be free! Why couldn't she have been born a boy? Things would be so much simpler then.   
  
*****  
  
Anne fretfully peered through the window into the night. It was getting late and Catherine had yet to get home. What if she had run away? Or worse, what if she had been attacked…or kidnapped?  
  
Closing the curtain, she walked back to her seat before the fire and collapsed into it. A shirt she was mending lay forgotten on the floor. She covered her face with her hands.  
  
"I cannot do this any longer." Anne moaned. "She's your daughter with your inherent strong will. I cannot keep up with her. I just-"  
  
"Mother, who are you talking to?"  
  
Anne stood bolt upright, spinning to stare at her daughter. Catherine glanced around the room incredulously, having just entered from the kitchen.   
  
"Where have you been?!" Anne demanded furiously.   
  
"I was taking a walk to clear my head." Cat replied coolly. "I came through the back door. I apologize if I worried you."  
  
Her mother sighed, sitting back down. "Catherine, I do not want to fight."  
  
Cat just looked away.   
  
Anne shook her head. "I was speaking to your father." She said, changing the subject. Cat's attention was instantly back on her.  
  
"My father?" She questioned, scanning the room once again. Had she somehow missed noticing another person in the room?  
  
"He isn't here Catherine. I sometimes speak to him when I am upset. It helps calm me down."  
  
Cat moved to sit in the chair opposite her mother, kicking off her shoes and tucking her legs under her. Anne kept herself from commenting on the unladylike posture.   
  
"You're not angry with him?" Cat asked in surprise.   
  
"No, not any longer. For years I hated him, but that has mostly been replaced with acceptance…and understanding."  
  
"Understanding?! How could you of all people understand how he walked out on us?" Cat demanded angrily.   
  
"Catherine, you never knew your father, so you could not possibly understand. He tried to be someone he wasn't. I tried to change him." She sighed. "I should have known that was impossible."  
  
Cat kept silent. She stared at her mother, anger evident in her eyes.  
  
"Please do not hate him. You're father was of the sea. It was a part of him. My love was not strong enough to surpass that love."  
  
Her daughter didn't look convinced, but the anger seemed to dim. She looked away for a moment, before asking. "You've never spoken of my father before. Why now?"  
  
Anne smiled sadly. "You remind me of him often." Before Catherine could ask anything else, she stood up. "It is getting late."  
  
The conversation was over. 


	4. Chapter 3

*****

All of Spanish Town was quiet, as it should be during the early hours of the day. Men, women, and children slept peacefully in their beds, content with their life.

Catherine leaned against the window, the glass cooling the skin on her forehead. She sighed, watching as her breath briefly fogged up the window. How could they be so content with such a constricting lifestyle? Each and everyone of them had a set place in society, a set of unspoken rules they followed until they were finally reclaimed by the Maker. 

Maybe that's why her father left….

'He tried to be someone he wasn't.' 

What was he then? Who was he? Cat knew very well she would not get any answers out of her mother. The conversation they had earlier had been a strange, indeed. Catherine could not remember a time her mother had spoken so freely about her father. When she had been younger, and just discovering a conventional family consisted of more than a mother and daughter, her mother had avoided all her questions. And then there was the night she'd found out…

~~~~~

__

Catherine stomped into the house, her face flushed red with anger. That dim-witted, bigoted, old hag… The thirteen year old wished then that she had a list of curse words she could use. Dim-witted and bigoted weren't good enough insults for that witch! From now on she would pay attention when she passed the tavern. The next time she ran into Mrs. Long- 

"Catherine, did you get the linens I need?" Her mother called from the kitchen. Cat marched through the door and slammed the basket holding the fabric down on the table. Anne spun around from where she was cleaning vegetables.   
  
"Catherine, you will control that temper!" She scolded.

"Why don't you tell me about my father?" Cat demanded, catching Anne off guard. 

"Do not use that tone of voice with me." Anne said, avoiding the subject like always.

"Mother! I am thirteen years of age. I am no longer a child. Why do you avoid speaking about him?"

"Catherine Byrde-"  
  
"I need to know! What are you afraid-"  
  
"HE ABANDONED US!" Anne screamed, then froze, her hand covering her mouth in shock. 

Catherine felt like she had been slapped in the face. "Wh-what?"

Anne shook her head, turning away from her only daughter. 

"Mother, please." Cat moved closer to her mother, hesitantly holding out a hand as if to touch Anne's shoulder. 

"Your father left us when you were a few months old." Anne whispered in a strangled voice, ending the sentence with a soft sob. 

~~~~~

Cat shook her head, her eyes focusing on the glass in front of her. She had never mentioned her father again. Over the years she had perfected ridding her mind of any thoughts concerning him. So why did he so stubbornly grasp her thoughts now?


End file.
